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Just because you can't imagine a solution does not mean there is none. Steve Jobs was homeless for a time. Richard Stallman was sometimes 'between apartments' w

by Mz 9y ago

Just because you can't imagine a solution does not mean there is none. Steve Jobs was homeless for a time. Richard Stallman was sometimes 'between apartments' while working on his open source stuff and had trouble getting a voter registration card because of it until some big publication listed his maker space as his address and then the registrar of voters was finally willing to accept that answer. I am homeless and have had a class on homelessness and these are two of my websites: http://whathelpsthehomeless.blogspot.com/ http://whathelpsthehomeless.blogspot.com/ http://sandiegohomelesssurvivalguide.blogspot.com/ http://sandiegohomelesssurvivalguide.blogspot.com/ I also started a Reddit recently called Housing Works and I have various related little blogs, like Project SRO. I am still kind of throwing things at a wall and seeing what sticks, but the San Diego Homeless Survival Guide is a thing I started for myself in order to keep track of useful info I needed while homeless in downtown San Diego and I abandoned it after I left downtown. It was not updated at all for six months and then I realized it had organic traffic. It has the most organic traffic of any site I run because there is need for the info. A lot of people who have spent time homeless are ashamed of that fact and don't volunteer that information normally. Even those who are not ashamed and not actively hiding it, well, you don't know just from looking at someone that they used to be homeless. Lots of people do get off the street. It is not a permanent situation for everyone. However, homelessness has been on the rise nationwide for some years now and it does concern me that there are larger forces at play here that are causing it to be more of an uphill battle than it used to be.

sillysaurus3 9y ago
Certainly. I only meant to add to the conversation. Your endeavors seem promising.
- Mz 9y ago
  I realize it is complicated and has many moving parts. Perhaps it would help to think of it this way: We don't actually need comprehensive solutions like so many people are looking for. We just need a thread to pull to start unraveling it and begin to shrink the problem. And because there are many moving parts, there are many threads to pull. People can work on various parts of it, to good effect. Best.
  - OrwellianChild 9y ago
    Just wanted to thank you, Mz, for continually expressing patience in the face of arrogance and condescension whenever the conversation on HN turns to homelessness. Your experience and perspective are hugely valuable, all the more so because you are able to use it to educate folks about the complexities/challenges of the homeless.
    - Mz 9y ago
      Thank you. I do my best. Some times are easier than others.
rsj_hn 9y ago
The issue is chronic homelessness, not people "in between jobs" or couch crashing. Those aren't the ones defecating on city streets and aggressively panhandling. We have data on this, so let's not conflate the issue with non-issues. 2/3 of the chronic homeless have mental or physical disabilities. 1/3 have drug problems. You are talking about 83,000 people in a population of 320 million, but these 83,000 people are creating huge quality of life problems in all of our major cities. In San Francisco, you have 300 million dollars spent fighting a problem created by 2,000 people. The non-profit and social services mafia employs more people to "care" for the homeless -- or more cynically exploit them -- than the actual number of chronically homeless.
- Mz 9y ago
  I have a chronic illness and I am getting healthier and more productive while on the street. I have been homeless for 5.5 years. My father drank heavily for years and I have another close relative who used to snort $10k a year in cocaine up their nose back when $10k was real money. First, we can go after the low hanging fruit of helping people who are more easily helped. More availability of actual affordable housing would help with this issue. Some people who are homeless do have income, just not enough to pay for a middle class American lifestyle. Second there are things that work to help rehabilitate people with serious, entrenched personal issues. I raised and homeschooled my two gifted learning disabled sons, one of whom has the same medical condition I have. I know quite a lot about this problem space and I see it as solvable. It will take time, but it can be done. Writing people off as hopeless does not help the problem at all. It just compounds it.

by Mz 9y ago

sillysaurus3 9y ago

Certainly. I only meant to add to the conversation. Your endeavors seem promising.

Mz 9y ago
I realize it is complicated and has many moving parts. Perhaps it would help to think of it this way: We don't actually need comprehensive solutions like so many people are looking for. We just need a thread to pull to start unraveling it and begin to shrink the problem. And because there are many moving parts, there are many threads to pull. People can work on various parts of it, to good effect. Best.
- OrwellianChild 9y ago
  Just wanted to thank you, Mz, for continually expressing patience in the face of arrogance and condescension whenever the conversation on HN turns to homelessness. Your experience and perspective are hugely valuable, all the more so because you are able to use it to educate folks about the complexities/challenges of the homeless.
  - Mz 9y ago
    Thank you. I do my best. Some times are easier than others.

rsj_hn 9y ago

The issue is chronic homelessness, not people "in between jobs" or couch crashing. Those aren't the ones defecating on city streets and aggressively panhandling. We have data on this, so let's not conflate the issue with non-issues. 2/3 of the chronic homeless have mental or physical disabilities. 1/3 have drug problems. You are talking about 83,000 people in a population of 320 million, but these 83,000 people are creating huge quality of life problems in all of our major cities. In San Francisco, you have 300 million dollars spent fighting a problem created by 2,000 people. The non-profit and social services mafia employs more people to "care" for the homeless -- or more cynically exploit them -- than the actual number of chronically homeless.

Mz 9y ago
I have a chronic illness and I am getting healthier and more productive while on the street. I have been homeless for 5.5 years. My father drank heavily for years and I have another close relative who used to snort $10k a year in cocaine up their nose back when $10k was real money. First, we can go after the low hanging fruit of helping people who are more easily helped. More availability of actual affordable housing would help with this issue. Some people who are homeless do have income, just not enough to pay for a middle class American lifestyle. Second there are things that work to help rehabilitate people with serious, entrenched personal issues. I raised and homeschooled my two gifted learning disabled sons, one of whom has the same medical condition I have. I know quite a lot about this problem space and I see it as solvable. It will take time, but it can be done. Writing people off as hopeless does not help the problem at all. It just compounds it.